The Experience

Terraced houses in front, a perfect little farmyard behind, the most welcoming of hosts within – sweet Agnès greets you with impeccable manners and old-fashioned hospitality – she’s delighted to sit and chat in her homely kitchen about where you’ve been. Your home town is marked with a pin on her map of Great Britain alongside all her other treasured guests from across the Channel.

The modest, authentically timeworn house is stuffed with much-loved collections and her genuine chambres d’hôtes – a threatened species – are family-furnished, floral-papered, draped with all sorts and conditions of crochet; the loo is across the landing. Breakfasts are good, too.

Quiet, restful stays can be spent strolling into lovely, laid-back Liévin, days maximising the proximity to the coast, war cemeteries and battlefields. Louvre-Lens Museum is a mere kilometre away, with art and sculpture borrowed from the main Paris collection.

Reviews

I felt so welcome as soon as I stepped through the front door. Agnès is extremely kind and generous (yes we do share the same name!) – you will feel like you are family! You can park at the back which was really handy, and it was easy to walk to restaurants. I loved the authenticity of the place, a truly old-fashioned B&B managed by an owner who just radiates generosity of spirit.

The neighbourhood

The farm comes as a surprise: behind a row of terraced houses, with a traditional yard behind – cavernous barns, tumbledown stables draped in green. You’re in Liévin itself, so most shops and restaurants are walkable; it’s 20 minutes to L’auberge Lievinoise for hearty Hauts-de-France cuisine, 15 to the closest watering hole and the same to the nearest supermarket. There’s an indoor car park for keeping your wheels tucked away when you’re not visiting the area’s World War I sites and cemeteries.

Local points of interest from Madame Agnès Dupont

Arriving by car? Take advantage of the indoor car park available.

Visit the iconic Louvre-Lens Museum, just 1km away, for impressive art, historic and sculpture collections on loan from the Louvre in Paris.

Visit Lens’ 14-18 Centre d’Histoire Guerre et Paix, a striking modern structure full of WW1 archive footage, photographs and maps as well as a special commemorative space.

A reminder of Lens' coalmining history are Les Terrils Jumeaux, 11/19; 2 giant slag heaps. Climb to the top and enjoy the views.

Under an hour journey to Lille, people watch in Place Charles de Gaulle in one of the many cafés and bars bordering the square.

For art lovers, expore Lille's Palais des Beaux Arts, often called the Second Museum of France - 22,000 m/sq of 17th to 19th century artworks.